Last week, the Texas General Counsel Forum honored Mary Kay Chief Legal Officer Julia Simon with its Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics and Law. Kimberly-Clark Deputy GC Shonn Brown introduced Simon, calling her “a fierce advocate for justice and equity.” Simon said she accepted the award “knowing it’s my job to strive to live up to standards this award represents every day. I accept it knowing it’s not just for what I have done in the past but what I intend to do, now and in the future.” The Texas Lawbook has the exclusive details.
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AZA Team Slaps Down ‘Frivolous’ Anti-SLAPP Appeal
Calling the appeal of a construction dispute “a poster child” for abuse of the interlocutory appellate process, the 14th Court of Appeals sent the case back to a Houston district court for trial.
Kirkland and Jackson Walker Team up for Hess Subsidiary Bankruptcy — Updated
Hess Corp. subsidiary Honx Inc. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization Thursday in Houston federal court, citing asbestos claims brought by contractors and employees at a former oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Yvette Ostolaza is ‘First Texan to Lead a Global Law Firm’
Yvette Ostolaza, a first-generation Cuban American who grew up in a working-poor neighborhood in Miami, learned English from Sesame Street and almost didn’t go to college. On Friday, Ostolaza becomes chair of the management committee of Chicago-founded Sidley Austin, a 2,000-lawyer global corporate law firm that reported nearly $2.8 billion in revenue in 2021. She is the first Latina and the first Texan to lead a top 50 global corporate law firm. Ostolaza joined Sidley from Weil Gotshal in 2013 as the leader of the infamous “Seven-Plus-One.” During her time leading Sidley in Dallas, the firm has tripled its Texas lawyer headcount and quadrupled the revenues it generates in the state, according to The Texas Lawbook 50.
InfoWars and Sub V: Can Alex Jones’ Media Companies Use Small Business Reorganization to Curb Sandy Hook Defamation Liability?
Can Alex Jones and his InfoWars media companies successfully utilize the increasingly popular “Small Business Reorganization” scheme found in Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code? This case may be the first prominent example of bad faith or inappropriate use of a newly enacted reorganization regime finding widespread use among debtors in all types of industries.
DBJ: Prosecutors Get More Time to Tally Restitution in UDF Fraud Case
Federal prosecutors say that roughly 30,000 investors are victims of the UDF executives under the Crime Victims Rights Act. Sentencing is set for May 20.
Texas Appeals Court Hears Arguments on Legality of $9,000 Electric Rates During Winter Storm Uri
The Texas Public Utility Commission’s February 2021 emergency rules allowing an increase in electric rates to $9,000 per megawatt hour in response to Winter Storm Uri were “invalid and ineffective” and “wreaked havoc” on the state’s power system, lawyers representing several large energy companies told a Texas appeals court Wednesday. A decision by the Austin Court of Appeals could impact the efforts by more than a dozen electric providers challenging billions of dollars in ERCOT invoices.
CDT Roundup: 10 Deals; 12 Firms; 59 Lawyers; $2.24B
There is a bevy of reasons that carve-outs have become scarce of late — pandemic, inflation, war, etc. But the underlying reasons for carve-outs remain, even if the market is momentarily sparse. The CDT Roundup explores last week’s deals, which include a carve-out, as well as a few of the obstacles that put the wider market on pause.
Bell Nunnally’s UNTD Business Law Forum Seeks to Provide Real World View of Business Law, Generate Dialogue with Law School Students
Lawyers from the Dallas-based firm visited with The Texas Lawbook about the program’s goals and takeaways, including the importance of mentorship and how business law is an empowerment tool and offers greater entrepreneurial opportunities.
All-Women Slate of Appellate Advocates to Argue Historic Winter Storm Uri Case
Lawyers for some of Texas’ largest energy companies and their government regulators are scheduled to argue one of the most important cases resulting from Winter Storm Uri last year and the line-up includes some of the most prominent women appellate experts in Texas. The question is whether the Texas Public Utility Commission illegally adopted rules during the historic storm that allowed the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to increase the price of electricity 650 percent for nearly a week. Billions of dollars for several major energy companies are at stake.